amanda

Update: The above mix has an excellent cold throw, excellent hot throw, and smells amazing like a pumpkin spice latte. And best part: NO BURNT SMELL! All my other attempts had a burnt smell to them. It definitely needed a 5 day+ cure though. The pumpkin scent came out more as it cured. I used 6006 in an 8oz jelly jar with a CD10 and a 7% FL. So far the CD10 is burning well, but it looks like I might want to consider wicking down; we'll see how the rest of the candle goes. But for anyone looking for a really great PSL scent, this mix is AWESOME. I brought home my empty pumpkin latte cup and my husband and I kept smelling the cup and the candle back and forth so impressed by how authentic the candle was. Lol.

I made candles in my daughter's used applesauce jars. They had a diameter just under 2". I used 6006 and used lx12s. HTH

Exact same answer as Jcandleattic! The price isn't the only reason I switched. One time I handed over a bag with two little candles in it and the handle broke. Nothing broke, but I didn't want to risk that again. I got a stamp on vistaprint and I stamp my logo on the paper sacks. And I buy tissue paper from the dollar store to wrap multiple candles in the same bag.

Candybees's "Twisted Lime" is my favorite, BUT "twist" in bar lingo is always citrus. So "Twisted Coconut" could be cool? And make it green and white swirly??

My coconut blend candle this summer was called "Beach Bum" and people thought that was cute. I also a fruity, tropical one called "Aloha". Those are possibilities? I like something with "beach" Beachcomber? Beach Baby?

Thanks for the tips! You guys are seriously the best. You all have saved me a lot of time and testing so far and as a SAHM who sells here and there as supplementary income, your advice and guidance has been so invaluable to my family <3 Anyway...After using the q-tip trick with a couple of combos, I went with 25% pumpkin pie 25% pumpkin soufflé 30% fresh coffee 10% French vanilla 10% cinnamon stick While mixing and initial cold sniff, it smells perfect. So I'll give it a good cure and report back. I think with the popularity of Starbucks' pumpkin spice lattes, this scent will be a good seller

Since the last two times I received advice in this forum on proportions for blending fragrances were spot on, I figured I'd go ahead and see if anyone has any tips on how to make a good pumpkin spice latte fragrance. I was thinking I would need to use (all CS) pumpkin pie, cinnamon stick, fresh coffee, and (maybe?) vanilla. My first go at it was 50/50 pumpkin pie and fresh coffee. But it wasn't pumpkin-y or spicy enough. And it had a bit of a burnt smell (I feel like the vanilla might mellow that out? Am I way off base thinking that?). I like venturing into the world of blending my own fragrances, but I feel like I'm just burning through so much wax, fragrance, time, and money with all this new testing. So any guidance would definitely be appreciated. The good news is that I am getting really good at predicting a starting point for what size wick to use with 6006 in my jelly jars! All the experience and trial and error is really paying off. The last few scents I tested, I was able to correctly predict if I'd need to wick up or down. Potentially pertinent info: Igi 6006 8oz jelly jars CD wicks 7-8% fragrance load Thanks in advance

Gail, I haven't tried Aztec's Rosemary Mint. But I like Nature's Garden's Rosemary Mint very much. I originally tried it as a fresh, spring scent but I just kept reordering it year-round because people love. I just ordered Aztec's new dupe of the blue capri volcano. I have been searching for a dupe of this scent for awhile now, so I'm very excited about finding it. I'll be sure to report back. I also ordered their candy corn on OldGlory's recommendation. After reading this thread, I'll be sure to try the sweet potato and brown sugar if I reorder.

I had never ordered from Aztec before. I like that they give you the option to ship priority mail. Saves some $$. I just bought the volcano type (so excited for that!!) and got some candy corn while I was at it. I want to make little candy corn votives and put them in a candy dish on my table so it looks like a big bowl of candy corns. It's probably been done a million times before, but I think it'll be super cute For my free samples, I picked creme brûlée and gingerbread. I'll be sure to post my thoughts on the Capri blue dupe in the fragrance forum since it's a new fragrance.

Oh my gosh. I have been searching for a Capri blue dupe for months! I can't even wait for your reviews; I'm ordering it now!!! jcandle- happy for you that you were able to finally buy yourself supplies. I feel ya on the "every red cent going to emergencies" thing. Hopefully you get to make some sweet candles and it is destressifying!!

I live in an urban area and my farmers markets and craft shows have a pretty mixed clientele of anywhere from college hipsters to stay at home moms to little old ladies. And lavender has been my best seller across the board. Grapefruit has been huge this past summer (I use grapefruit mangosteen by CS but called it Pink Grapefruit) I brought out my fall scents three weeks ago and, so far, blueberry cobbler has been selling like crazy. That's my experience. HTH!

Night before Christmas! I LOVE it. Thanks for the awesome suggestion.

Yes! Bags. And tissue paper. I get paper lunch sacks from the grocery store and I bought a stamp of my logo from vista print and I stamp my logo on to all of the bags. It's a really easy way to add a nice touch to something as simple as a paper lunch bag. I also second a note pad. I wrote down all kinds of stuff. Obviously what I sold, but also customer suggestions. For example, I saw that I kept getting requests for sandalwood. So I ordered some sandalwood and now it's one of my best sellers.

Vista print does the job. It's user friendly and cheap. That's what my husband and I use. I got my table cloths from amazon. I have floor length black ones for indoor/fancier shows and a set of tan colored flannel-backed vinyl table covers for my farmers' market and out door shows. Both sets were under $20.

Cool stuff in this thread! People can be so creative! I am doing a palm series in the little square 8oz mason jars. Since this is my first time using palm, I will only be offering 4 scents. They scents that aren't in my normal line up. I'm going to give them Halloween names "Frankenstein's Lab" -green palm wax, Cool Basil Citrus scent "Snow White's Apple" - red palm wax, MacIntosh Apple scented "Boo"-- white palm wax, Sugar Cookie scented And (my favorite!) "Witch's Brew" which is BLACK (I had to experiment forever to get a functional black candle!!) and it's a custom blend that I came up with that's a cran-orange, oak, and spices blend. I'm super proud of this candle Then I'm going to give them holiday names after Halloween. I would love any suggestions (I'll probably have to change the color of black candle, huh?) As you can probably tell, I'm really excited about this! Hehe.

Nature's Garden just lowered their shipping rates again! The rate was 10% below advertised UPS rates, now their 18% below. I ordered 10lbs of palm wax, 2 pounds of FO, and a bunch of wicks and shipping was $14! I discovered candlescience first, but I've really been into Nature's Garden lately. All of their oils have been really impressive. I think I'll be slowing shifting over to using more of their stuff.

I use 6006. The wicks that I found to work the best are LX and CD. I didn't care for the zinc. I've only used Candlesciene and nature's garden for oils, but the bakery scents that I've liked the best are CS's blueberry cobbler, banana but bread, and pumpkin soufflé. And I've recently been trying more of NG's oils because every one I've tried so far has been super impressive. I've been testing their Sugar Cookie lately and really love it.

People love square.

Thank you, Candybee. I'll give that combo a go tonight and after a good cure, I'll report back!

I've been dabbling with mixing scents and I'm really grateful for the advice here. I took Puma's advice to add some cinnamon stick to CS's pumpkin pie to give it a little kick and really differentiate it from the pumpkin soufflé. Worked great. And Candybee saved me a whole lot of trial and error with the recommendation of 2 parts cinnamon to 1 part mac apple. I really would have thought it was the other way around. But now I have the perfect apple cinnamon! Now to my question: a lot of people have been requesting a pumpkin apple scent. I suppose it's because both Yank and B&BW both debuted one this year. No matter what I do, I can't get a scent where you pick up both the apple and the pumpkin notes. If you smell the apple at all, that's all you can smell. I have CS's mac apple, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin soufflé. Any advice would be appreciated. (As well as cinnamon stick, creme brûlée if those are something you think I should incorporate) Happy blending, folks!

@Candybee-I'll be starting to make a cinnamon/mac apple blend soon. What ratio do you like? I'll be using CS cinnamon stick and CS mac apple in parasoy. Thanks!

Yay for a good weekend, Candybee! I had a good weekend too. There was a local music festival in my part of town and it was my biggest day for sales yet! I also was part of a little pop up market in the parking lot of a health foods store, as well as my weekly Friday farmers market. I make watermelon candles in 8oz jelly jars. I pour them in in green, white, and red layers of wax with black seeds painted inside of the jar where the red wax is. So it looks like a watermelon slice. I can't keep them in stock. I know that means I should raise the price so supply and demand even out, but I can't bring myself to raise any of my prices. :/ oh well. I'll see if I can figure out how to post a pic because they really are super cute candles! I made candles using Nature's Garden's "Blue Hawaiian". I poured them in green, pink, and blue layers and decorated the lid with a tropical looking flower print. I call them "Aloha". I thought people would go nuts for a summery, tropical candle. Nope! Haven't sold one yet! Which is a shame because that FO is a hell of a thrower.

Dear other Amanda, I use mostly cd wicks from nature's garden. Most of the candles I sell are in 8 or 4oz jelly jars and I use cd10 as a starting point and wick up or down from there as needed (most scents like the cd10 though). I've been happy with LX wicks from candlescience too. Cheers, Amanda

Puma! Thanks for that idea! I wanted a sweet pumpkin (CS pumpkin soufflé) and a spicy pumpkin. So if I find a pumpkin I like that isn't spicy enough, I'll just add some cinnamon stick. Does anyone have any opinions on Nature's Garden vs Candlesciene for their pumpkin pie scents?

I suspected that sales would dip in July/august. But I didn't expect such a drastic change of pace. Hopefully it isn't quite so bad the next few weeks. :/ I'm lucky to be a part of a farmers' market that runs through November. I anticipate Sept-Nov being pretty decent for candle sales. That's so neat about local shops selling your stuff! I'd love to get an opportunity like that one day! I did get invited to vend during the neighborhood historical house tour since I live in the neighborhood! So that's really neat. This year for the house tour, they are closing off a block and letting local artists/vendors set up. I know people aren't out to spend the big bucks during a house tour, but it doesn't cost me anything and it's 2 blocks from my house, so I have nothing to lose